Post by sashimi on Mar 27, 2009 7:04:48 GMT -6
New starting times may lead to improved learning
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=281247
By Stephen Daeschner
3/27/2009
Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and the Indian Prairie Educational Association recently reached a tentative, one-year teachers contract agreement for 2009-10.
One of the elements from the agreement is an adjusted starting time for students on Wednesday mornings.
The district explored the idea of delaying school by one hour a few years ago. Although the concept of embedded professional learning time was research-based and solid, there were concerns brought forward by parents and teachers about inconveniences to parents, especially those families who needed to balance work and/or day-care responsibilities. Therefore, the full hour late start was not pursued.
With our recent contract talks, the timing was right to explore the idea once more and to see what could be done to address the issue of professional development opportunities for our teachers with the goal of improving student learning.
We heard from our parents last time that they did not favor pushing the start back one hour a week, so we adjusted the current program to move the start of school 10 minutes for elementary schools and 20 minutes for our middle and high schools each Wednesday morning. This provides our elementary teachers with a 75-minute block of time and our middle and high school teachers with a 50-minute block of time before school.
Why the push for the later start? The later start on Wednesday provides teachers with time to collaboratively review and better understand new curriculum initiatives, which leads to better instruction. The common meeting time allows teachers to monitor student progress more frequently and come together as a team to determine the best instructional methods for students.
The later start also allows the district to establish schoolwide training each week that emphasizes, on a macro level, a greater amount of continuity and focus on student learning. This schoolwide focus will be linked directly to each school's improvement plan, so the results will be measurable.
The concept of a later start day on Wednesday is in support of other new initiatives such as launching all-day kindergarten, making improvements to special education delivery, and restructuring the middle school schedule.
Each example represents a major paradigm shift for students, families and our staff, and each holds the promise of heightened academic achievement for our students.
If we urge flexibility with the adoption of the late start program, the district must, in return, find a way to assist those parents who might not have the flexibility in their morning schedules. Elementary school parents unable to make the 10-minute adjustment will be permitted to drop off their student at the same time as other school days, and supervision will be provided for those additional 10 minutes.
There are many who have asked why not extend the school day for teachers instead of the Wednesday morning adjustment. This question has merit and there are two primary reasons that are important to highlight.
The first has to do with bus transportation. As our district uses a tiered scheduling strategy, the 10 to 20 minutes of additional time for teachers does not accommodate the time needed to return students of all grade-levels to their homes. Second, the district prides itself in providing outstanding extracurricular opportunities for its students. Many of our teachers work with students after school as coaches and sponsors of clubs and after-school programs.
Indian Prairie is a dynamic school district that prioritizes the limitless possibilities of student learning. Like all-day kindergarten, the new middle school schedule, and special education delivery, our district is evolving dramatically, and I really wouldn't want to have it any other way. I am grateful for the collaboration of our teachers and our administrators in developing this program.
This initiative, like so many before, will be a tremendous benefit to our kids.
• Stephen Daeschner is superintendent of Indian Prairie Unit District 204. His columns appears monthly.
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=281247
By Stephen Daeschner
3/27/2009
Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and the Indian Prairie Educational Association recently reached a tentative, one-year teachers contract agreement for 2009-10.
One of the elements from the agreement is an adjusted starting time for students on Wednesday mornings.
The district explored the idea of delaying school by one hour a few years ago. Although the concept of embedded professional learning time was research-based and solid, there were concerns brought forward by parents and teachers about inconveniences to parents, especially those families who needed to balance work and/or day-care responsibilities. Therefore, the full hour late start was not pursued.
With our recent contract talks, the timing was right to explore the idea once more and to see what could be done to address the issue of professional development opportunities for our teachers with the goal of improving student learning.
We heard from our parents last time that they did not favor pushing the start back one hour a week, so we adjusted the current program to move the start of school 10 minutes for elementary schools and 20 minutes for our middle and high schools each Wednesday morning. This provides our elementary teachers with a 75-minute block of time and our middle and high school teachers with a 50-minute block of time before school.
Why the push for the later start? The later start on Wednesday provides teachers with time to collaboratively review and better understand new curriculum initiatives, which leads to better instruction. The common meeting time allows teachers to monitor student progress more frequently and come together as a team to determine the best instructional methods for students.
The later start also allows the district to establish schoolwide training each week that emphasizes, on a macro level, a greater amount of continuity and focus on student learning. This schoolwide focus will be linked directly to each school's improvement plan, so the results will be measurable.
The concept of a later start day on Wednesday is in support of other new initiatives such as launching all-day kindergarten, making improvements to special education delivery, and restructuring the middle school schedule.
Each example represents a major paradigm shift for students, families and our staff, and each holds the promise of heightened academic achievement for our students.
If we urge flexibility with the adoption of the late start program, the district must, in return, find a way to assist those parents who might not have the flexibility in their morning schedules. Elementary school parents unable to make the 10-minute adjustment will be permitted to drop off their student at the same time as other school days, and supervision will be provided for those additional 10 minutes.
There are many who have asked why not extend the school day for teachers instead of the Wednesday morning adjustment. This question has merit and there are two primary reasons that are important to highlight.
The first has to do with bus transportation. As our district uses a tiered scheduling strategy, the 10 to 20 minutes of additional time for teachers does not accommodate the time needed to return students of all grade-levels to their homes. Second, the district prides itself in providing outstanding extracurricular opportunities for its students. Many of our teachers work with students after school as coaches and sponsors of clubs and after-school programs.
Indian Prairie is a dynamic school district that prioritizes the limitless possibilities of student learning. Like all-day kindergarten, the new middle school schedule, and special education delivery, our district is evolving dramatically, and I really wouldn't want to have it any other way. I am grateful for the collaboration of our teachers and our administrators in developing this program.
This initiative, like so many before, will be a tremendous benefit to our kids.
• Stephen Daeschner is superintendent of Indian Prairie Unit District 204. His columns appears monthly.
